Evelina Ortega - Democrat

Lina Ortega is a lifelong resident of Texas State District 77. She was one of seven children born to Maria and Victor Ortega in central El Paso. She attended St. Patrick’s Elementary School, El Paso High School, and UTEP, before earning her B.A. with honors in Government and Economics and her law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She commenced her legal career as a Texas Assistant Attorney General in the Law Enforcement Division and then became an Assistant Federal Public Defender in El Paso. After several years of public service, she joined an El Paso law firm and began 30 years of private practice. She has dedicated her career to helping people from all walks of life.

Lina is known as a fighter and recognized as one of the best lawyers in America. It’s a reputation she earned early in her career fighting for El Paso families in the Court of Inquiry, where she and other respected El Paso attorneys laid out the evidence for all to see, showing beyond a shadow of a doubt, how state funding discriminated against El Paso and border communities.

It was a game changer that led to increased funding in our community. Texans depend on the state to provide vital services and infrastructure, for example, our schools, our universities, our roads, and our health care. The future and the economy of El Paso depend on appropriate levels of funding.

Lina believes our families are worth the fight, and if it means taking on the system, she’s not afraid to do it.

A mother and grandmother, Lina Ortega has fought for clean air for our children as a member of the Mayor’s Environmental Task Force and for affordable housing as a member of the El Paso Housing Finance Corporation. And when others betrayed the public's trust, Lina was appointed to the El Paso County Ethics Commission which has created a county code of ethics that has increased transparency and will hold those accountable that violate it.

Today in Austin, though, there’s a new breed of Republicans who would rather give tax breaks to the rich than restore cuts to our schools. They spend millions on border security while cutting health care for disabled children. And they protect corporate loopholes rather than invest in an innovative economy that would create more higher-paying jobs.

El Paso families have the drive to work — just give us the opportunity.

About

Whatever the goal – creating awareness online and offline, mobilizing a movement, or winning at the Legislature – our team delivers a healthy dose of vision, creativity, and determination to make it happen.